Have you ever had picadillo? Picadillo is a flavorful Cuban dish made with ground beef and a sauce made from simmering tomatoes, green olives, bell peppers, cumin, and spices. My first time was at Erica's engagement party where she and her mother-in-law, Tina, made huge batches of it. I could not have enough, I love ground beef, olives and saucy food. This was perfect for me! If you are in the mood for something salty and full of flavor I recommend taking the 15 minutes to prep this dish because you end up with about 8 servings that everyone will love. It's inexpensive, freezer friendly and gluten-free.

Ingredients

2 pounds lean ground beef

1 cup minced onion

1 cup diced red bell peppers [I used green]

1 cup red wine

1/4 cup minced cilantro [I used parsley since I had it on hand]

1 small tomato, diced

8 oz can tomato sauce

1/4 cup green olives

1 1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tbs ground italian seasoning

kosher salt and fresh pepper, to taste

Directions:

Brown meat in a large deep skillet on medium-high heat; season with generously with salt and a little pepper. Use a wooden spoon to break the meat up into small pieces. When meat is no longer pink, drain all the liquid from pan. Add the onions, garlic and bell peppers to the meat and cook an addition 3-4 minutes.

Transfer the meat to the slow cooker, then add tomato, parsley, tomato sauce, 1 1/4 cups water, olives [I added some of the brine from the jar for added flavor] then add the spices.

Set slow cooker to HIGH for 3 to 4 hours or LOW for 6 to 8. After it's ready, taste for salt and add more as needed [I added a little more pepper and parsley at the end because the crock pot tends to mute the flavors of herbs and spices].

You can then use this in tacos if you would like but my favorite way is on top of rice. I made 2 cups of brown rice during the last hour the picadillo was in the crock pot. If you are an olive lover like me right before eating mine I add about 6 more olives, I really cannot have enough. Hope you and your loved ones enjoy this simple but tasty dish!